Anwar's Accusers Suffer Setback in Corruption Trial

By Keith Richburg Washington
Post Service
KUALA LUMPUR - The government's
sex and corruption case against the ousted deputy prime minister of Malaysia,
Anwar Ibrahim, appeared to suffer a setback Thursday as the prosecution's
lead witness told a stunned courtroom that he would be willing to lie under
oath if ordered to do so.

The admission by the witness, Mohamed Said Awang, who is head
of the police intelligence unit known as the Special Branch, caused gasps
in the chambers and prompted the surprised judge to interrupt with the
question: ''So you may lie?''

''I may, or I may not,'' Mr. Mohamed Said replied. At that admission,
a lawyer for Mr. Anwar, Christopher Fernando, replied, ''From your answer,
you are a most unscrupulous person.''

In what may be a further blow to the prosecution's case, Mr. Mohamed
Said also told the court that it was possible that Mr. Anwar might have
directed him to get two people to retract their allegations of Mr. Anwar's
sexual misconduct not as part of a cover-up of any wrongdoing, but because
the allegations were baseless.

As the prosecution's lead witness, Mr. Mohamed Said, who will
retire this month, was supposed to lend credibility to the charge that
Mr. Anwar improperly interfered with a police investigation into whether
he engaged in homosexual sex, which is illegal in Malaysia. But after three
days of testimony and cross-examination, Mr. Mohamed Said may have done
more to bolster Mr. Anwar's claim that the charges against him were trumped
up by his political enemies, and that he is the victim of a conspiracy
by those who wanted to remove him from his powerful post.

''If someone higher than the deputy prime minister were to instruct
you to come and lie to the court here, would

you do it?'' Mr. Fernando asked at one point Thursday.

''It depends on the situation,'' Mr. Mohamed Said replied. The
only person higher than the deputy prime minister is the prime minister,
Mahathir bin Mohamad.

At another point, Mr. Fernando asked Mr. Mohamed Said: ''I put
it to you that since the allegations against him were false and baseless,
it was perfectly legitimate for him to get retractions of those false and
baseless allegations?''

Mr. Mohamed Said replied, ''Yes.''

The prosecution is expected to call more than 50 witnesses in
this first phase of the trial, including Mr. Mahathir.

Many Malaysians are convinced that no matter how weak the government's
case, Mr. Anwar is still likely to be found guilty because Mr. Mahathir
has publicly called for a conviction. Courts in Malaysia rarely rule against
the government in politically sensitive cases.

Since his dismissal Sept. 2 and his arrest 18 days later on charges
of sodomy and tampering with the police investigation, Mr. Anwar's case
has emerged as a rallying point for thousands of Malaysians who have grown
frustrated with the 17-year rule of Mr. Mahathir. Before his arrest, Mr.
Anwar led tens of thousands of people into the streets, demanding political
reform and the resignation of Mr. Mahathir.

When Mr. Mahathir dismissed Mr. Anwar - his erstwhile deputy and
designated heir - the prime minister said it would be for the courts to
determine his guilt or innocence, although he also said he was convinced
that Mr. Anwar was a sodomite unfit to lead the country.

On Wednesday, Mr. Mohamed Said told the court that in August 1997,
Mr. Anwar became upset over allegations from two people - his driver and
a female acquaintance - contending that Mr. Anwar had engaged in homosexual
sex. Mr. Mohamed Said told the court that Mr. Anwar instructed the police
to get written retractions from the two, and the intelligence chief said
police did get the two to change their stories, after pressuring them.

After the session Thursday, defense lawyers said they were seeking
a copy of a confidential 1997 report that Mr. Mohamed Said sent to the
prime minister in which the intelligence chief is said to have dismissed
allegations of Mr. Anwar's sexual misconduct as part of a political plot
orchestrated by Mr. Anwar's enemies.

Among those allegedly named as part of the plot was Daim Zainuddin,
a former finance minister who later supplanted Mr. Anwar as economics chief
and who has reversed Mr. Anwar's Western-oriented economic policies.

Under the guidance of Mr. Mahathir, who has been acting as finance minister,
the government has taken a number of steps, including the imposition of
currency controls, in an effort to deal with the Asian economic crisis.

[Lawyers for Mr. Anwar formally asked the judge for a court order
to obtain the confidential report, Reuters reported.